Gigapixel Photography on the Rise

What is a gigapixel image?

A gigapixel image is a digital image composed of more than one billion pixels. It contains more than 150 times the detail captured by a typical 6-megapixel consumer camera. One way of visualizing the size of a four gigapixel image is to consider a photograph of a regulation football pitch (soccer in USA) which is 90m x 45m. A four gigapixel top-down photograph of the entire field at 1mm per pixel would cover the entire area of the football pitch!

How does it work?

Gigapixel images are created by tiling a large number of photographs, or scanning a large film negative (8" x 10"). Gigapixel images are displayed on-line using streaming technology which breaks the image into small tiles and loads them as you look. This allows you instantly view high-resolution images that are over several gigabytes in size. There are beautiful gigapixel photography online at GigaPan and GigapixelPhotograpy.com.

What are the applications of gigapixel imagery?

Gigapixel photographs are ideal for tourism, real-estate, architecture, medical imaging, archiving, and documenting special events. High-resolution images create the impression of "being there" by immersing the viewer within the scene. The extreme level of detail captured in a gigapixel image allows artifacts to be accurately preserved for future generations.

Can you print a gigapixel image?

Yes, gigapixel images can be printed. At a size of over 20ft (6m), a gigapixel print retains jaw-dropping detail even when viewed a few inches away.

The largest digital photographs

The largest digital image at the moment is a 17 gigapixel photograph from Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park. It is claimed by Gerard B. Maynard.

• Dimensions: 214,414 pixels X 80,571 pixels
• Size: 96.5 GB
• Pixels: 17,275,550,394

Google O3D Plugin Brings 3D To Browsers

O3D is an open-source web API for creating rich, interactive 3D applications in the browser. O3D allows you to create rich 3D web applications using JavaScript. O3D is a much needed effort to enable innovative 3D applications in the web browsers. Virtual worlds and games such as WoW and Second Life could use O3D instead of native clients.



Vangelis Kokkevis and Gregg Tavares will discuss O3D on the upcoming Google I/O conference in May 2009. This session will primarily cover best practices for getting 2D and 3D content into O3D. They will also explore the API's advanced features, primarily through demos and coding examples to keep the session fun.

Download O3D for Mac or Windows and test it for yourself. Nice job, Google!

Amazon Instant HD Video on Demand Streaming Movies and TV Shows

2009 is the year of HD Video on the internet.

Amazon.com (AMZN) has launched "Instant HD", a high-definition video version of its on-demand service, offering consumers the ability to rent movies and purchase television episodes shown in HD.

Amazon will add more than 500 HD TV shows and movies to its Amazon Video On Demand service. Titles are from major networks and studios like Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures and Showtime Networks, with new-release movie titles including "Twilight" and "Frost/Nixon" and TV shows such as "The Tudors", "Saviors" and "Smallville".

Customers can use Panasonic Viera CAST-enabled HDTVs, the Roku Digital Video Player, certain types of TiVo and the Sony Bravia Internet Video Link device to order and watch HD movies for $3.99 to $4.99 each. Television episodes are available for purchase at $2.99 each.

Customers also can buy the content to watch on their personal computers or download it for later viewing offline. Finally the promise of on demand HD video streaming has come true.

1 Billion Downloads on the Apple App Store in Nine Months

Apple just delivered its 1 Billionth (that is 1 000 000 000) application download from the App Store, which currently features over 25,000 apps built by thousands of developers. Amazing!

Mobile Broadband is the Next Internet.


Learn more on TechCrunch.

Top 5 Books on Innovation and Strategy in the Facebook Era

Right this minute, more than 1.5 million people are on Facebook. They’re interacting with friends and talking about brands. They’re learning about businesses and providing valuable information to market and sell. In the Facebook Era, businesses are closer to their customers than ever before.

Clearly, social media is the most important innovation in the recent history of the internet. Web 2.0 is about people - rapidly changing the competitive landscape. Companies must adapt their strategy and execution quickly to be successful in this new world.

The following is list of top 5 (5 star) books on business strategy and execution in the Facebook Era:

• The Facebook Era: Tapping Online Social Networks to Build Better Products, Reach New Audiences, and Sell More Stuff - practical case studies of how actual businesses are using social networking in real life


• The Innovator's Toolkit: 50+ Techniques for Predictable and Sustainable Organic Growth - practical and actionable book on innovation


• The Momentum Effect: How to Ignite Exceptional Growth - best of strategy, marketing, innovation, business development and so much more


• Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day - comprehensive, perfectly paced guide on social media marketing


• The Innovation Zone: How Great Companies Re-Innovate for Amazing Success - practical guide on innovation